Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to tools and parts for installing communication lines at customer premises, and particularly to a tool system for routing an optical fiber or cable through walls inside the premises.
Discussion of the Known Art
Materials and instructions for a procedure that enables an installer to route and bond an optical fiber or cable over exposed surfaces at customer premises, in minimal time and with little or no permanent visual impact, are available from OFS Fitel, LLC under the registered mark InvisiLight®. See U.S. Pat. No. 8,906,178 (Dec. 9, 2014) and U.S. Pub. 2016/0097911 (Apr. 7, 2016), both of which are incorporated by reference. During an InvisiLight installation, a consumer grade, nonhazardous, water based adhesive is used to bond buffered fibers or jacketed indoor cables to walls, ceilings, moldings and other accessible structural surfaces over a determined routing path at the premises.
Sometimes the routing path will pass through walls located between an entrance to the premises, and a fiber termination point inside the premises. For such installations, a hole is drilled through each wall along the path, and the fiber or cable is threaded through the hole using a tool in the form of an elongated sleeve having an axial slit and an outward flare at a distal end of the tool. See FIGS. 12 and 15, and related text of the above referenced U.S. Pat. No. 8,906,178. A leading end length of the fiber is urged through the slit so that a connector at the end of the fiber nests in the flare at the distal end of the tool, and the connector housing is removed leaving only the connector ferrule.
While holding a near or proximal end of the tool, an installer threads the distal end of the tool with the nested ferrule and fiber through the hole until the fiber emerges from the opposite side of the wall. The tool is removed from the fiber, and enough fiber is drawn through the hole from the opposite side of the wall for routing over a remaining portion of the installation path.
It is often very difficult and time consuming for the installer to thread the tool together with the fiber at the leading end through the hole from one side of the wall and out the opposite side of the wall, and then to remove the tool from the fiber. As a result, valuable installation time is lost. Accordingly, there is a need for a tool that enables an optical fiber or cable to be threaded through an opening or hole in a premises wall quickly and easily.
In addition, once threaded through the hole, the fiber or cable is protected by passing it through an access slit formed over the length of each of two hollow plugs, and inserting the plugs into the hole from both sides of the wall with the fiber safely surrounded by the plugs. The plugs are set at a desired angular position with respect to the hole on each side of the wall, and are closed at their open ends in a manner that allows the fiber to be adhered on each side of the wall next to the plug without having to bend the fiber critically. In some installations, a fiber module may be installed over the hole on one side of the wall, in which case only one plug is inserted into the hole from the opposite side of the wall. See FIGS. 12 to 16 and related text of the mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 8,906,178.
Premises walls in the United States are typically about 4.5 to 6.5 inches thick, and hole plugs used in InvisiLight or other kinds of installations are sized for such walls. As mentioned, each plug is inserted into a wall hole after a fiber or cable is threaded through the hole and passed through the access slit in the plug body. Before inserting each plug into a hole, however, an adhesive is usually applied on the outside surface of the plug in order to retain the plug securely in the wall once the adhesive cures.
In certain countries outside the United States, walls inside customer premises are often less than 4.5 inches thick. When threading a fiber or cable through a hole in such walls, the fiber still must be protected inside the wall by passing it inside a plug that is inserted into the hole from one or both sides of the wall. Because the length of the plugs must be reduced to accommodate the thinner walls, however, the plugs may not have sufficient area on their outside surface for depositing enough adhesive to retain them securely in the wall. Accordingly, there is a need for a wall hole plug for use when routing optical fibers and cables through relatively thin walls, whether within or outside the United States, wherein the plug can be retained firmly in the wall at a desired angular position without the use of an adhesive.